You, Giant- Me, Grasshopper... NOT!!! I am NOT the One!!!
Numbers 13:30-33
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GREETINGS!!!
BlogFam, Do you know how it feels to be the "lone ranger?" I am not referring to the cowboy on the western that used to come on when I was a kid. I am referring to anytime in your life when you had to stand alone, a moment when you were the only one who was willing to speak up about something you believed. Have you ever been the lone ranger? The ONLY man, woman, boy, or girl who was NOT going there or NOT doing that. The ONLY individual who dared to go against the grain not because you were trying to be a rebel but simply because you felt like what you did or said was just the right thing to do or say. If this is not your testimony, perhaps you know of others who will go and do and think and say what nobody else dares to attempt. Are you acquainted with anyone who seems to be the ONLY one who does not follow the crowd or go with the flow of the majority? Have you ever met a "lone ranger?"
I can think of several lone rangers in my life. And for better or for worse they have made the choice to take a stand even if they had to stand all by themselves. I have even been the "lone ranger" a countless number of times in my own life. Obviously, some moments were more significant than others and I admit that some of those "lone ranger" moments were wise and others, foolish nevertheless I know how it feels to go and do and think and speak up all by myself.
BlogFam, I am sure you know this already but will you please allow me to remind you that YES there will be times along your Christian journey when you MUST take the "lone ranger" position? There will be times when your faith in God will demand that you go and do and think and speak all by yourself. There will be moments when you will feel like you are the only one living right, being holy. Do not be surprised when you are the only one excited about prayer and fasting, praise and worship, service and communion, Bible study and fellowship. Friends, when you are truly walking with God, believing God's word, stepping into God's promise, you must know that the "lone ranger" experience will come and YES, it is true, the LORD will never leave you nor forsake you BUT people, saints and ain'ts, friends and foe, family and strangers will. People will leave you, forsake you, turn their back on you, and talk about you. However, YOU just keep standing! In this life, there will be times when your majority equals YOU PLUS GOD and while that might feel lonely or strange or weird, since God is with you EVERYTHING will be alright! You will see and they will see that when you take a stand for God, by faith, - especially when you stand alone- GOD will take a stand for you.
In Numbers 13, Caleb took a stand alone. Caleb was the "lone ranger."
God had instructed Moses to send spies to preview their Promised Land. Moses sent 12 men, one representative from each of the tribes of the children of Israel. They went and they saw the same land but for some reason they came back with conflicting reports.
Have you ever been a witness to anything like this? The group went to the same place, saw the same sights, heard the same things but there is a different recollection of the same event. This happens all the time. This happens because people do not always walk into situations with the same perspective from the beginning. When the spies went to preview the land that God had promised to them, every man did not go their believing that they were more than conquerors with God and that with God ALL things are possible....especially the fulfilling of God's promise to them regarding the land. So, when these men return to Moses and the people with a conflicting report it is no surprise. All of the spies witness the same things but because they did so from a different perspective about the power of God, the majority of the spies were intimidated by what they saw and the "lone ranger," Caleb is inspired by what he has seen.
Numbers 13:30-33 NIV
Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." BUT the (MAJORITY of the) men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are."
And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."
AGAIN.... Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
I can only imagine the voice of Caleb in the midst of this feisty group. Now, this is not in the Bible, but I bet those other spies and tribes roasted him good over dinner that night. That fool is crazy if he think we 'bout to go up in their and drive them folks out of their own land! Caleb is nuts! He talking 'bout lets go! Lets go get killed is what he is really saying! I know he had to see those big giants that we saw... giant men and glamazon women! Ooooo weeeee! Not me! And not this tribe! We ain't going over there! That's foolishness!
Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
How is it that Caleb could go see and hear everything that his fellow spies did and come back with such a different report!?!?
Well, its simple. Caleb BELIEVED the report of the Lord! And the Lord God had already said that He was giving the land to them. Friends, whose report do YOU believe? I know what it looks like and I know what you have heard. But whose report do YOU believe? I know everybody else is thinking and saying one thing and you are thinking and saying another. But whose report do YOU believe? I know that they think you are absolutely and certifiably crazy..... and you are not so sure about your mental state either. But whose report do YOU believe?
Caleb believed the report of the Lord God. So when he saw the giants and everything else that the other spies saw, his mind was already made up to move forward into the land that the Lord GOD had given to all of them.
Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."
Caleb says..... I am NOT the one who will reject the promise of God. I am NOT the one who will deny the power of God. I am NOT the one who will ignore the presence of God in our lives and on our side. I am NOT the one who will stand with the majority of spies and tribes in fear and self-defeating talk. I am NOT the one who sees myself as a grasshopper and them as giants especially when God has spoken victory in our lives in advance! I am NOT the one!
Caleb was the "lone ranger." He took a stand against the fear of the majority and stood alone by faith! Caleb believed the report of the Lord God and in Numbers 14, God rewarded Caleb (& also Joshua) for doing so. Of all the spies who went to preview the Promised Land, only TWO actually took possession of it. The others died in the wilderness.
BlogFam, whose report do YOU believe? And are you willing to be the "lone ranger" knowing that there will be times when ONLY God is on your side?
GOD LOVES YOU AND I DO TOO!
Blessings,
Delesslyn
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